There seems to be a lot of confusion regarding the preprocessor.
What the compiler does when it sees a #include that it replaces that line with the contents of the included files, no questions asked.
So if you have a file a.h with this contents:
typedef int my_number;
and a file b.c with this content:
#include "a.h"
#include "a.h"
the file b.c will be translated by the preprocessor before compilation to
typedef int my_number;
typedef int my_number;
which will result in a compiler error, since the type my_number is defined twice. Even though the definition is the same this is not allowed by the C language.
Since a header often is used in more than one place include guards usually are used in C. This looks like this:
#ifndef _a_h_included_
#define _a_h_included_
typedef int my_number;
#endif
The file b.c still would have the whole contents of the header in it twice after being preprocessed. But the second instance would be ignored since the macro _a_h_included_ would already have been defined.
This works really well, but has two drawbacks. First of all the include guards have to be written, and the macro name has to be different in every header. And secondly the compiler has still to look for the header file and read it as often as it is included.
Objective-C has the #import preprocessor instruction (it also can be used for C and C++ code with some compilers and options). This does almost the same as #include, but it also notes internally which file has already been included. The #import line is only replaced by the contents of the named file for the first time it is encountered. Every time after that it is just ignored.
An option:
[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@/%@/%@", one, two, three];
Another option:
I'm guessing you're not happy with multiple appends (a+b+c+d), in which case you could do:
NSLog(@"%@", [Util append:one, @" ", two, nil]); // "one two"
NSLog(@"%@", [Util append:three, @"/", two, @"/", one, nil]); // three/two/one
using something like
+ (NSString *) append:(id) first, ...
{
NSString * result = @"";
id eachArg;
va_list alist;
if(first)
{
result = [result stringByAppendingString:first];
va_start(alist, first);
while (eachArg = va_arg(alist, id))
result = [result stringByAppendingString:eachArg];
va_end(alist);
}
return result;
}
Best Answer
It may be helpful to think about strong and weak references in terms of balloons.
A balloon will not fly away as long as at least one person is holding on to a string attached to it. The number of people holding strings is the retain count. When no one is holding on to a string, the ballon will fly away (dealloc). Many people can have strings to that same balloon. You can get/set properties and call methods on the referenced object with both strong and weak references.
A strong reference is like holding on to a string to that balloon. As long as you are holding on to a string attached to the balloon, it will not fly away.
A weak reference is like looking at the balloon. You can see it, access it's properties, call it's methods, but you have no string to that balloon. If everyone holding onto the string lets go, the balloon flies away, and you cannot access it anymore.